Trolley ear



m6. s. s. MATTHES 2,27,64

TROLLEY EAR Filed Sept. 13, 1953 tlorney Patented Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TROLLEY EAR Application September 13, 1933, Serial No. 689,274

'7 Claims.

My invention relates to suspension devices for trolley wires and has particular reference to those devices known as trolley ears.

One of the objects of my invention is to pro- 5 'vide an car which is reasonable to manufacture and is possessed of long life and easy of application.

Another object is to provide an ear in which the channel portion or that portion forming the lips 10 maybe made of a dense fibrous metal of high conductivity and I find that such a metal is sheet or rolled copper.

Another object of my invention is to provide an ear in which the body or supporting portion may 15 be made of an entirely dissimilar metal to that of the channel and which may be either ferrous or non-ferrous.

My inventionresides inthe new and novel construction, combination and relation of the parts 2 hereinafter described and shown in the drawing accompanying this specification.

In the drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my ear made in accordance with my disclosure.

25 Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the ear as shown in'Fig. I.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

30 Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the channel portion 35 only taken through a rivet point.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view to show the advantages of one form of channel as compared with another form of channel.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged bottom view of the channel 40 alone which I employ at a rivet point.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged bottom view of another form of channel at a rivet point to compare with the form of channel shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of a portion of a modi- 45 fied channel.

Fig. 12 is a section on the line I2I2 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view on the line I3--I3 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 14 is a modification of the construction 50 shown in Fig. 6. A

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a channel portion I formed up preferably from sheet copper which is drawn or rolled, thus providing a channel Which is sufficiently malleable 55' or ductile to be readily formedabout a trolley wire and which has high conductivity and long life due to its density and which will eliminate to a large degree the arcing which takes place between the lips and the current collector in the case of ears made of cast metal. 5

I employ an inverted U channel having a rectangular shaped groove, as this shape of groove has particular advantages, as later set forth, in connection with an ear having a separably formed body or supporting portion 2 and may be used 10 with round or grooved wire, the latter being substantially round.

The body member I, as stated, is preferably formed up from sheet metal of desired thickness and is provided with two lip portions 3 connected 15 by the bight 4 and forming the groove 5 to receive the trolley wire. a p

The ends of the lips for a considerable distance back are tapered both as to thickness and to height, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 5. The variation in height of the lips, as indicated at A in Fig. 1, affects the depth of the groove and also affects the degree to which the lips may be formed about the trolley wire and provides easy passage of the trolley wheel onto and off the ear. The central portion of the lips are preferably of such depth that when formed about the trolley wire the free edges will substantially meet.

The body member 2 is provided with a web portion 6 and a supporting boss "I which may be internally threaded to secure it to a hanger. Projecting downwardly from the web 6 are spaced projecting members 8 which I term rivets, as they are adapted to be headed over, as in the case of rivets.

Projecting laterally from the lower edge of the web 6 and in opposite directions, and preferably throughout the length of the body, are flanges 9. These fianges form a seat II! for the channel I,

as shown in Fig. 6. If desired, the-flanges 9 may be so formed as to provide a space II adjacent the channel I and the flanges providing a bearing with the channel I at their outer edges I2. This modification shown in Fig. 14 may be of assistance in aiding the drawing of the parts more tightly together along the edges I2.

The bight l of the channel l is provided along its length with a plurality of spaced countersunk openings it which register with the rivets 8. When the parts I and Z are initially assembled the rivets 3 will project through the openings I3 and into the groove 5. After the parts are thus assembled the rivets are peened over, as in the usual well-known manner, and caused to spread out and fill the countersunk openings I3,

as shown in Fig. 4, thus securing the members I and 2 fixedly together and providing a substantially uniform inner surface of the bight 4.

I prefer to make that portion of the channel I to which the rivets are secured of rectangular section, that is, the bight 4 is substantially flat and this shape does not interfere at all with the use of the ear on round trolley wire. The end portion of the channel I for a distance back from the ends has the lips connected by a curved bight, the bight being of such radius as to fit the trolley wire, as shown in Fig. 5.

By making the bight 4 fiat between the 'lips 3 the opening I3 is of uniform shape, that is, circular, while the circumferences of openings l3 in a channel with a curved bight are not concentric as shown in Fig. 10 and the strength of metal around the opening [3 is of maximum strength which the necessary relative size of the various parts will permit.

If the bight of the member I is curved to fit the wire, then the circumference of the beveled portion of the opening l3 will not be circular and will not, therefore, be concentric with the central orifice, as shown in Fig. 10, and the thickness of the metal around the rivet will not be uniform as in the construction shown in Fig. 9 and will be weakest where it should be the strongest.

In Fig. 8, I have shown side by side the two constructions, that is, with a flat bight and with a curved bight. The line OB indicates the beveled surface of the opening l3 for the rivet through my preferred construction, and the line OC shows a corresponding line with relation to a construction using a curved bight and it will be noted that the line OC is outside the bounds of the construction and that it will be necessary to have the surface of the opening l3 for the rivet to correspond with the dotted line OD. Comparing the above description with Fig. 8, it will be noted that the left-hand por-' tion permits of a larger rivet opening than the right-hand portion, and it will also be noted that the portion E is heavier than the portion F, therefore, in cases where the ear is subjected to a side strain, shown by the arrow, the resistance to the metal tearing at the point E is very much greater than the resistance to the metal tearing at the point F where a curved bight is used.

Also, the uniformity of the opening permitted by the rectangular shape makes the work of peening the rivet very much easier and reliable in view of the flow of the rivet metal being uniform about its axis.

The larger rivet and rivet hole permitted by the rectangular construction which I prefer provides a greater bending moment resisting separation of the parts both in a vertical and transverse direction and this, in addition to the thicker metal at the point E, makes the rectangular construction much preferred to the curved construction.

In Figs. 11, 12, and 13, I have shown a modification in which substantially the entire length of the member I has curved bight as shown in Fig. 12, but at the rivet holes the metal is pressed to form a fiat bight in place of the curved bight, as shown in Fig. 13 at the point of riveting. This construction has all the benefits of the construction earlier described herein.

The member 2 may be of malleableized cast iron or of a soft steel forging, or it may be of cast bronze or brass of a quality which will permit ready peening of the rivets 8 into holding position.

The flanges 9 may be omitted but they are greatly preferred as they assist not only in the assembly of the ear but add to the assembled strength of the parts and to the appearance of the finished device.

The channel member may, if desired, have a fiat bight throughout the length thereof connecting the tips along one edge. The rivet lugs 10 8 are preferably of circular cross-section.

Other modifications may be made of my invention without departing from the intent and scope thereof and as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. A channel member for a trolley wire ear comprising an elongated body formed of sheet metal and having spaced lips connected by a bight forming a groove, the bight being substantially fiat along portions of the body and tapered circular openings extending through the fiat bights and being larger on the groove side of the channel.

2. A trolley wire ear comprising an inverted channel member formed of sheet metal and hav- 26 ing a pair of spaced lips and a fiat bight forming a wire receiving groove, a supporting member, spaced circular projections integral with the supporting member to enter tapered circular openings in the bight of the channel member and 30 adapted to be upset and form enlarged means to fill the tapered openings and fixedly secure the members together.

3. A trolley wire ear comprising a channel member, said member having bendable lips connected by a bight to form a groove for the wire and circular tapered openings through the bight, the bight contiguous to the openings being substantially flat, a supporting member having circular integral projections registering with the openings and extending therethrough and adapted to be peened over and provide means to fill the tapered opening and interlock the members against separation.

4. A trolley wire support comprising a channel member formed from sheet copper, said member having bendable lips connected by a bight to form a wire groove and tapered openings through the bight and the bight contiguous to the openings being substantially flat, a supporting memher having an elongated web and laterally projecting flanges along the lower edge of the web and forming a seat for the channel member, projecting lugs from the surface of the seat projecting into and through the tapered openings and adapted to be upset and fill the tapered opening to secure the members against separation.

5. A trolley wire support comprising a channel member formed from sheet copper, said member having bendable lips connected by a bight to form a wire groove and openings through the bight, a supporting member having an elongated web and laterally projecting flanges along the lower edge of the web and forming an elongated groove to receive the channel member, the edges of the flanges contacting with the channel member and the intermediate groove surface being spaced from the adjacent face of the channel member, projecting lugs from the surface of the elongated groove extending into the openings and into the wire groove and adapted to be upset to secure the members against separation and draw the channel member into close engagement with the edges of the flanges.

6. A supporting member for a two-part trolley ear comprising a web portion having a supporting boss and. spaced rivet lugs along one edge of the Web to extend into tapered openings in a wire receiving member to secure the members together, the wire receiving member having a wire receiving groove formed of spaced bendable lips connected along one edge of each lip by a flat portion in which are disposed the openings to receive the rivet lugs, the lugs being longer than the depth of the openings through which they extend to permit of the lugs being peened over to form a rivet head filling the tapered opening and flush with the inner surface of the fiat portion.

7. A trolley ear comprising a channel member comprising an elongated body formed of sheet metal and having spaced lips connected by a bight forming a groove, the bight at the ends being curved and the intermediate portion being substantially flat and tapered openings through the flat portion of the bight and a support for the channel member having projecting lugs extending into the openings and headed over to form heads fitting the openings.

SAMUEL S. MA'IIHZES'. 

